L’Art Néo-tantriqueDe l’abstraction indienne à la contre-culture

Past: May 28 → 29, 2015

NEO-TANTRICART

From Indian abstraction to the counterculture.

Tantric art belongs to a distinct category, often isolated from Indian pictorial productions (espe- cially at the Biennale of Venice 2013). It is often presented as an art form that is at the same time very old and very conceptual, almost abstract. Initially, the tantras are texts advocating rituals at odds with Brahmanical purity standards, including the predominant use of geometric diagrams. This colloquium revisits the orientalist dissemination of these texts and especially their influence on Indian artists of the 1950s-60s. They interpreted them as Indian abstract forms and then, in the climate of the counterculture, as ‘transgressive’ forms to criticise Indian society from the inside.

We know about the vogue of ‘Eastern spiritualties’ on hippie movements, but the companion of this fashion among young Indians is often forgotten, es- pecially in artistic circles, in painting but also poetry, dance or film. The colloquium will particularly focus on conditions in the 1970s to 80s, where tantric art saw its first exhibitions followed by specia- lised publications.

Organized by Tiziana Leucci (CNRS, CEIAS, Paris) and Raphaël Rousseleau (Université de Lausanne, CEIAS, Paris) in collaboration with the depart- ment of Research and Education at the musée du quai Branly.